Does our age show our opinion

Excuse me for thinking outside the boxWonder what the average age of this site user is ?Is it possible to a poll?The reasons45 to 60 is it remember the past should be doing better, coz the money club has spent.30 to 44 should using more youth Knee high to 30 give it time ,, we get it together.Just same thoughtsPlease comment

You dont know you're born! We've had to put up with the frustration and heartbreak of being a West Ham supporter for a lot longer that you lot ;lol;wahoo;weep

That said, we also grew up (via Greenwood and Lyall) watching the team playing 'the West Ham way' hahaha.

Personally, our run to the 1980 FA Cup (beating plenty of top sides whilst in Div 2) culminating with the defeat of Arsenal via the best midfield player ever is the highlight for me COYI Even 37 years ago I can remember the day and the team as clear as day

I am in the oldster camp. And EVERYTHING was better in the olden days. Especially football. Cracking game the 1980 cup final. My bestest friend at the time, indeed his whole family, were huge Gooner fans. After the game me and my Dad sneaked around to their house and pinned all our cup final day rosettes, scarves, banners and anything else West Ham we could find to their front door. Marvelous. As I say, bestest friend at the time. And my Mum actually predicted a West Ham win and Brooking as the scorer on the morning of the final, true story.

Sorry Madcap but not everything was better in the olden days, as football supporters we were treated like cattle.

The police herded us to and from the stadium, if anyone objected to this they could expect to be arrested with bruises as a bonus, once inside the ground we were penned in with fences and the owners would always try to cram in as many as possible to milk as much as they could out of us. Nobody cared about football fans and the result was Hillsborough.

There are a lot of things I miss from the olden days but equally there are a lot of things that have improved, back then having a pizza delivered was unimaginable......

30-44. 38, to be precise. I was 7 months old when we last won anything of any note.

I must admit, I have fallen out of love with the game over the last few years. I do enjoy watching things like The Big Match Revisited from the 70s and 80s when football felt like a sport for the people rather than the industry it is now.

ASLEF is spot on. I am no longer afraid for my life when I go to a game. I once hid under a lorry that had its engine running to get away from a hoard of Everton fans hell bent on ’taking a cockney’ (I am para phrasing here).

The sexism in the terraces of the 70s and 80s was applauding appalling (thanks Thorn) . I am thankful my nieces do not have to go through what I did.

The pitches resembled ploughed fields or at Chelsea beaches!!

I will say though football before Hillsborough and the SKY money was a different game than the one we have now. But I can’t work out if it’s just because that was the football of my youth. Like the summers back then seem ‘sunnier’.

I am in the top age group by a long way, 70 to be precise. I started supporting them in the early 1950s when we were in the old 2nd division and had one of the best experiences ever at football when we drew 1-1 with Liverpool in 1958 with a free kick from Muffin (John Bond) to secure promotion. There's been a lot more lows than highs since then and I never really expect us to achieve much but I do expect every player who pulls on the shirt to give it their all. Sadly that seems to happen less and less but maybe that's just my perception as I morph more and more into Victor Meldrew. I enjoyed our cup wins and European cup wins and perversely our play off wins although I'd rather we didn't have to go through them. Pitches when I started going were more suitable to growing potatoes and I remember for one game at Upton Park the pitch was frozen and the club didn't want it called off so brought in a load of coal braziers to thaw the ice and flooded the pitch and it was the only match that weekend postponed for a waterlogged pitch rather than frozen in sub zero temperatures. Happy days.

My parents have a photo of me from that that summer that used to hang in their living room, I am wearing brown and orange checked flares with a matching brown and orange checked t-shirt that had a flappy collar...

I swear had child line existed back then I'd have been straight on the phone!

Vors - the backpass rules was introduced after Liverpool won 8 titles in 10 years using the rather negative tactic of a striker with a bubble perm and a moustache scoring in the first 30 minutes then spending the rest of the match kicking the ball back to Grobbelaar

My first game I went to with a friend having decided that day to go, paid about 5 pound I think and stood behind the goal.

It was a bit ruff and ready but I was hooked.

Now you need to plan it weeks in advance, establish a small loan and don't you dare stand or you get kicked out.

The only change in the last 30 years that improved the game was no back pass, ever other change seems to have been to turn it from a game to an entertainment event.

Five Pound ? my first match was against Leyton Orient about 1963, paid 2 shillings about (10p now ).Stood behind the goal in the south bank, and then the adults used to let the kidsget to the front, otherwise they couldn't see.

Ahhhh the summer of '76 was indeed sunnier and longer than modern day sunny summers ;biggrin

But we were wearing flares. Flares!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 70's did scar me in terms of the flares!! Even now viewing boot cut jeans makes me recoil in horror! The 80's saw the reaction and my jeans were always tight all the way down! Now, even into my 50's, I still only wear jeans that have no flare trace!

What about bunging the bloke on the turnstile somewhat less than the entry fee and he'd let you squeeze through without the turnstile registering. Mostly Chicken Run if my memory serves me right. ;biggrin

Excellent thread this one so well done imagelost.I think there's a lot of truth in this & even though we were treated like cattle back in the 70s & 80s when I was going all the time I preferred it then. Football kicked off at 3 pm on a Saturday for a start,this season we've only had one 3pm Saturday kick off at home so far.In my opinion the players cared more showed more loyalty. Just compare Brooking when the whole crowd were singing 'Don't go Trevor' after Liverpool had all but relegated in the late 70s to the likes of Defoe a quarter of a century later. You could pay on the door as well & if we had a game that wasn't appealing you could head north to the North London derby & pay on the door there if you had the inclination ,not that I ever did or even hop on a train to the north west & pay on the door at Liverpool v Man United,once again not that I ever did.I knew people who did both though. Negatives? Poor facilities,standing in the pouring rain at say Notts County away in an uncovered away end with an already poor view worsened by the fences wasn't great & neither was the racist chanting,which I'm sad to say we were among the worst at doing. Finally,& yes I know there is another thread regarding this but we were fans,not customers & the whole experience was less corporate.I'm 53 by the way.